The court case centres around who is to blame for the fire at SkyCity's International Convention Centre in 2019. Photo / Michael Craig
The court case centres around who is to blame for the fire at SkyCity's International Convention Centre in 2019. Photo / Michael Craig
The waterproofing subcontractor accused of negligence causing the 2019 fire at SkyCity’s International Convention Centre site is fighting claims made by Fletcher Building, and further alleges Fletcher’s construction unit was under-insured.
Justice Rachel Tahana is overseeing a 14-week court action by Fletcher Construction against XAM Limited, formerly known asMPM Waterproofing, as well as XAM’s subcontractor, JEL.
In May last year, a preliminary judgment in the proceeding put Fletcher’s uninsured losses claim at $320.7 million.
Later pleadings in the case, released to BusinessDesk, indicate that amount has been lowered but the sum is to be quantified at trial.
Justice Tahana granted BusinessDesk access to some documents in the trial, which is under way in the High Court at Auckland.
The documents show XAM – which indicated it was a family business with approximately 20 staff – is fighting claims of breach of contract and negligence. It was one of 80 subcontractors to work on the yet-to-be-completed convention centre.
XAM’s subcontractor, JEL, also provides specific evidence as to why, it says, it cannot be proved that it started the fire. Fletcher relies on an independent report from Fire and Emergency NZ as proof that it did.
